A play by Tom Wright. Adapted from the novel by Joan Lindsay. Directed by Ian Michael
Ghostly and layered, this is a five star production that brings new life to the timeless Australian classic
Reviewed by Justin Clarke
The Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House
Until 5th April, 2025
Tickets: https://www.sydneytheatre.com.au/whats-on/productions/2025/picnic-at-hanging-rock
Type: Australiana, Gothic Romanticism, Classic, Missing Child
If you liked: Ruby Moon, Jasper Jones, The Haunting of Hill House
Standing on a stretch of leaf covered flooring, a ghostly square structure floats above the stage. Five women, in formal, private school attire stand immobile as they fly through the exposition of Joan Lindsay’s Picnic at Hanging Rock. A mix of accents as diverse as the cast themselves bring the multicultural voices of Australiana to life, as they stare out at the audience and their characters are slowly are engulfed by darkness in a land they don’t fully belong to.
Tom Wright’s adaptation of Lindsay’s classic Australian text captures the disquiet nature of colonisation, filled with a kind of gothic romanticism as the relationship between colonists and the Australian landscape never quite fits together. Much like Henry Lawson’s poetry that explored the brutality of living in the Australian landscape, Lindsay’s writing dissects the spell-casting nature of our country, as well as the mythical and ancient power held in sacred sites. The scars of which are felt as deeply and as physically as the wounds its ancestral caregivers now bear.
Dressed in knee length skirts, blazers and wide-brimmed hats, the girls of Appleyard College write love poems in a luncheon picnic at Victoria’s Hanging Rock in the Macedon Ranges. Their eclectic mix of teachers have forewarned them of the dangers around the formation itself, but the sweet and affable Miranda leads a small collection of the girls up the rock. Irma, Marion, Edith and Miranda seem to transcend time as they climb. Edith eventually falls behind and as the three girls venture further into this ancient space until they vanish never to be found.
The concept of the missing child is a fascination in Australian literature and myth. Its origins don’t necessarily come from one particular place or event, but could instead stem from the disconnect between the new world and the old. In Picnic, the invaders with their corsets, tea cups and poetry are at odds with a land they cannot fully describe nor fully comprehend, and the vastness of the world which they now inhabit is neverending and often unforgiving.
Lindsay’s novel occupies a space in the time of Australiana when the concept of colonisation on stolen land began to be scrutinised. The idea of naming things and places on Country that already had names for thousands of years rings as loudly as James Brown’s exquisitely haunting sound design. The metaphysical nature of Hanging Rock (Ngannelong) penetrates every scene and its First Nation’s name is all that remains standing at the end as a reminder of survival.
…a richly gothic tale that speaks to more than just the missing child
Ian Michael’s direction utilises the transcendent nature of theatre as Hanging Rock invisibly permeates the entire space. Trent Suidgeest’s lighting design imbues the piece with a sense of dread and ghostly metaphysicality. Singular bodies are illuminated or hidden at any given moment, and the piercing blackness between scenes disrupts time and space.
Olivia De Jonge (Elvis), Kirsty Marillier (Orange Thrower), Lorinda May Merrypor (& Juliet), Masego Pitso (Is God Is) and Contessa Treffone (All My Sons) are a powerful quintet as they bounce between characters, text and setting. De Jonge’s brutal Mrs. Appleyard embodies the vilest of British sensibilities in an unforgiving and cruel role, whilst Marillier’s presence amongst the cast holds a firm space, almost leading the quintet without ever moving a finger.
Merrypor has traded the microphone of Juliet for a wide brimmed hat and grounded acting as she proves to be an attention grabbing and supportive ensemble performer. Meanwhile Pitso’s gothic physicality is reminiscent of a smaller scale version of the kind in Nosferatu, with one eerily chilling scene cutting a silhouette long after blackout. And Treffone’s haunted Englishman, Michael, acts a conduit for the ghostly encounters to invade the subtext throughout Wright’s text.
This is a richly gothic tale that speaks to more than just the missing child – the disjunction between European sensibilities and the Australian landscape and the power that sacred sites hold for our First Nations peoples. The real horror is found in between the lines of Wright’s adaptation as he explores the power beneath our feet and the ability it holds to transform our very lives if not acknowledged nor respected.
Theatre Thought: Not so much a thought as it is a task after seeing this. Go and research the Black Mountains of Kalkajaka National Park. The truth is out there
Cast
Olivia
Olivia De Jonge
Kirsty
Kirsty Marillier
Lorinda
Lorinda May Merrypor
Masego
Masego Pitso
Contessa
Contessa Treffone
Creative Team
Director
Ian Michael
Designer
​Elizabeth Gadsby
Lighting Designer
Trent Suidgeest
Composer & Sound Designer
James Brown
Movement Director & Intimacy Coordinator
Danielle Micich
Fight Director
Tim Dashwood
Voice & Text Director
Charmian Gradwell
Production Team
Production Manager
Alexandra Moon
Stage Manager
Stephanie Storr
Assistant Stage Manager
Mia Kanzaki
Costume Coordinator
Scott Fisher
Backstage Wardrobe Supervisor
Isabella Sigglekow
Costume Day Maintenance
Hazel Fisher
Lighting Supervisor
Jesse Greig
Floor Electrician
Oscar De Gruchy
Sound Supervisor
Hayley Forward
Sound Operator
David Trumpmanis
Video Supervisor
Michael Hedges
Staging Supervisor
David Tongs
Props Supervisor
Jason Lowe
Set Construction Supervisor
Boaz Shemesh
Scenic Art Supervisor
Ron Thiessen
Drafting
Dallas Winspear
